os
Job Posting Confirms Yearly Major Release Of WP7
In a job posting it looks like Microsoft will be keeping to their promise of a yearly major release for their mobile platform Windows Phone 7, which seems to be about the standard of yearly major releases for all the major platforms.
This Senior Program Manager position will be the CXE Feature PM that drives all development work on the Application Platform for update releases between major yearly releases.
iOS saw iOS 5 at Apple’s WWDC this year and Google’s Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich should be making an appearance some time by the end of this year. Despite Windows Phone 7 not performing as well as Microsoft had hoped, it’s good to know that they have not completely given up on the platform. With Mango expected to see a fall release we can only assume that the next major release should be around the same time next year. Check out the full job posting after the break.
“Job Category: Software Engineering: Program Management
Location: United States, WA, Tukwila
Job ID: 753226
Product: Windows Phone
Division: Windows Phone Division
There has never been a more thrilling time for the Windows Phone team! Windows Phone 7 launched and is building momentum in the market. Do you want to be part of driving the next big business for the company? If you believe Windows Phone is a critical area of investment for Microsoft and if you have a passion for creating compelling mobile user experiences then come join the Windows Phone Customer Experience Engineering team (CXE) and help shape the future of mobile. We are passionate about delivering world-class products to our users and partners. We aren’t just building a me-too iPhone or Android competitor; we’re changing the way customers use and experience their device. The Application Platform team is building the new development framework for Windows Phone applications, responsible for defining the application model and delivering the application manager, execution framework, integration with the OS, notifications, data services, integration with cloud services and delivering the ecosystem for supporting mobile application developers.
This Senior Program Manager position will be the CXE Feature PM that drives all development work on the Application Platform for update releases between major yearly releases. You will work closely with the Application Platform team who is working on major yearly releases and with the best technologies/teams across the company (e.g. Silverlight, XNA, .NET Compact Framework). We believe leveraging our partners, combined with building phone specific technologies within our own engineering team, results in leveraging the best technology from Microsoft for our developers.
This role requires significant cross-team and cross-division collaboration. You will be asked to provide strategic direction for the team in numerous areas based on your research into key areas of interest. You will write functional specifications using customer feedback and scenario based engineering principles. You will create schedules that clearly delineate what we commit to. On a daily basis, you will be responsible for the ongoing coordination of requirements and action items, as well as providing status on progress and deliverables. In addition, you’ll be driving the research and resolution of issues as they arrive, and be seen as the person who knows how to drive decisions and resolution to closure.
The ideal candidate will have:
Proven track record of senior technical leadership in the design, specification, and delivery of a major successful large scale product
10+ years of technology experience with 3-5+ years in a senior technical program manager role, including managing schedules and writing functional specifications
Ability to partner across test, development, and program management to accomplish business and engineering goals
Proven track record of establishing and maintaining strong cross-team working relationships and collaboration
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Customer and partner interface experience
Strong technical understanding and the drive to learn
Details oriented and results driven
Demonstrated a passion, excellence, and leadership in project management
BS in Computer Science (or related field) required, MS in Computer Science (or related field) preferred
Preferred:
o Experience working directly with the developer community and with developer community outreach
o Experience designing and/or building software products for the mobile space
o Experience designing and/or building Internet scale web services
o Experience shipping software development kits
WPEJOBS; WPEC
tri.CXE
MCB.WPE.LC”
The Fairphone 2 was first unveiled in June earlier this year, where this particular handset carried a modular design while featuring majority of its components that have been sourced from conflict-free mines. It seems that this particular handset that you can purchase with a clear conscience has begun to ship to those who happen to live across Europe.
Fairphone announced in a blog post, “It’s been almost two years in the making, and some of the earliest buyers have been patiently waiting since July to receive their new phones. As community manager, I want to personally welcome the new batch of Fairphone owners to our community.” The initial 1,000 units are tipped to ship this month, before the other pre-orders follow in January 2016.
In terms of hardware specifications, the Fairphone 2 will run on a Snapdragon 801 chipset, has a 5″ 1080p screen with Gorilla Glass 3 protection, 2GB of RAM, an 8MP camera, with Android 5.1 Lollipop in tow. It will be a dual SIM capable handset with a microSD memory card slot and plays nice with 4G LTE networks, retailing for approximately €525 a pop.
It is quite a feeling to have a smartphone getting the latest operating system update up and running, that is for sure. After all, you can never quite tell just what kind of goodies that your handset would receive now, can you? Those who are rocking to a Windows Phone 8.1 device might be looking forward to spending Christmas with a Windows 10 Mobile update but it seems that such hopes will have to be shelved for the moment.
It seems that there will be no Windows 10 update arriving this month as originally speculated, and the time frame itself has been altered, being even more vague in nature – where it has been mentioned to be “early next year”, which could jolly well mean any time, even in April. Looks like patience needs to be had in boatloads here.
It looks like the upcoming flagship model from Xiaomi will feature NFC support, at least based on a document that was released by China UnionPay. Just in case you are scratching your head and wondering who China UnionPay is, they happen to be the only domestic payment gateway supplier and card organization, and hence, to see them offer detailed support concerning the newly released NFC-based payment system points to the very real possibility of the upcoming Xiaomi Mi 5 featuring NFC capability.
After all, the Xiaomi Mi 3 was also mentioned on the list, which so happens to feature NFC, and there is no mention of the Xiaomi Mi 4 which does not come with NFC. Still, such a new payment system would be the ideal tool to see the reintroduction of NFC to the flagship model.